Chemical Education
Chemical education has a wide range of research interests including student understanding of the particulate nature of matter, mathematics in physical chemistry, visualization of biomolecules, science literacy, climate literacy, student understanding of concepts in organic chemistry, and the goals of undergraduate laboratory. Transforming research findings into practices that impact educational environments connects our fundamental research to teaching methodologies.
- Problem solving
- Instructional technologies
- Alternative modes of instruction
- Science Inquiry
- Visual literacy
- Classroom discourse analysis
- Laboratory learning
- Mathematics in physical chemistry
- Climate literacy
Read more about Chemical Education degrees and career opportunities.
Faculty
Research in the Towns group integrates across the particulate, macroscopic, and symbolic domains of chemistry. In the macroscopic domain we are investigating the faculty and student perspectives of undergraduate chemistry laboratory, specifically on their goals for laboratory. In the symbolic domain our research in physical chemistry focuses on the ways in which student understanding is fostered in classrooms where discussion takes place using discourse analysis. Finally, in the particulate domain we investigate the student understanding of visual images of molecules, in particular biomolecules which are conceptually rich and the gateway to understanding structure-function relationships. To contact Professor Towns, please call 765-496-1574 or email mtowns@purdue.edu. Visit the Towns Research Group website.